Front running political parties ACT and NZ First, with the potential to make or break a coalition government, want to see increased use of the archaic 90 Day Trial Period.

From May 2019, only employers with 19 or fewer employees have been allowed to utilise trial periods.

ACT and NZ First have both promised within their policy packages to either reintroduce trial periods in their original entirety or increase the number of employees a business may have when using a trial period clause.

The Young Workers Resource Centre’s (YWRC) position is that while movements to restrict the use of trial periods are a good first step, the practise that has only ever served to harm those most at risk of exploitation should be abolished for good.

“It’s great that they’ve [the government] amended what was there but if you’re asking me, it’s a lukewarm amendment,” YWRC spokesperson Tony Stevens says.

“Heaps of employers don’t even know how to use a 90 Day Trial clause properly! They’re just throwing the words out there without really knowing what that means themselves.

All the time we hear of employers and business owners who “fire” their employees at 9am, and then by 9.30am the employee is expected to be off the premises. That’s not how it works, they’re not a tool for instant dismissal,” says Stevens.

The YWRC expects an incoming government to protect the rights, futures, and livelihoods of those most in need of protection, and currently the 90 Day Trial Period is hurting a majority in order to benefit a few.

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